Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: blood preservation

  • Blood debt

    Jules Reich Chicago, Illinois, United States   A patient donating blood, Australia, c. late 1940s. Via Wikimedia. In 1937, the first U.S. blood bank opened in Chicago. It was originally called a Blood Preservation Laboratory, but its founder, Dr. Bernard Fantus, changed the name to blood bank. For someone who spent a large part of…

  • Bloody segregation: The story of how Charles Richard Drew found life abundantly

    Amy DeMattGreensburg, Pennsylvania, United States “Desperation, weakness, vulnerability – these things will always be exploited. You need to protect the weak, ring-fence them, with something far stronger than empathy.”— Zadie Smith What if, instead of simply practicing empathy, you could literally become a part of someone else? What if you could join a part of…

  • Blood and war: Preserving plasma and humanity

    Navanjana Siriwardane Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada   “Charles Drew with Laboratory Apparatus – Charles R. Drew – Profiles in Science.” U.S. National Library of Medicine. National Institutes of Health. Accessed January 4, 2020. Amidst the fighting and chaotic nature of World War II, the need for proper blood banking was greater than ever. Millions…